Understanding Thesis Statements with Pop Music

In this lesson, students gain an understanding of thesis statements by identifying them in popular songs. Then, they use a thesis statement they’ve identified in a popular song of their choosing to inspire an essay of their own. The goal of this lesson is for students to understand how broad a thesis statement can be while utilizing the the persuasive writing skills necessary to write a general thesis of their own.

Media

Some media may contain mature content. Discretion is advised when viewing with students.

Cassie Brown is an award-winning playwright and performer as well as an experienced educator. Cassie currently teaches enrichment classes in magic, model airplane building, and outdoor adventure skills. She has a degree in Early Childhood Development in addition to a Bachelor's in Film Studies with a minor in Education. Cassie honed her understanding of student-centered education while at Sesame Street, where she spent years learning the value of combining entertainment with education.

About Us

NuSkool is an entertainment learning platform that finds teachable moments in popular culture. We help our audience find the hidden lessons in all aspects of entertainment. Kids think school is boring and isn’t relevant to their lives, we tend to agree. Our job is to show the world that learning isn’t confined to a textbook and occurs both inside and outside the classroom. It’s real life learning.

NuSkool produces articles, standards aligned lesson plans, quizzes and other types of assessments. Our work began as student engagement specialists, and as experts in both entertainment and education with a special interest in student-centered learning, contextual learning, culturally responsive pedagogy, games based learning and 21st century skills.